Cloaks
by NeteleJala
Summary: ONE-SHOT. Josef reminisces about the good old days and sweeps Mick and Beth along with him.


I don't own moonlight or make any profits.

Hee, hee, hee, this is just a bit of fluff! Silliness really…

Enjoy!!

* * *

**Cloaks**

_Cloak: (klMk), n. 1. A loose outer garment, as in a cape or coat. 2. Thing that covers or conceals; disguise; pretense._

Now I ask you…"Who can resist a cloak?"

Josef sat in his living room, reminiscing over a glass of O+. It always seemed to put him in a broody mood, but tonight he had chosen it for that very purpose. If you'd lived through 400 years, wouldn't you want to reminisce too?

Currently Josef was contemplating fashions. Rose had sparked the topic when she had sauntered by him in her barely-there bikini top and Daisy Duke shorts. Fashions had definitely changed over the years. He could remember the day when any amount of exposed flesh was sinful.

Not that he was complaining. Josef watched Rose's delectable form lounging by the pool. Some things were better left in the pages of history books. Like ruffles, collars and heels in men's footwear. (Josef didn't envy women any for that, in fact he sympathized with them, but he couldn't deny that it made their legs irresistible.)

_Cloaks…_ Now there was a fashion he was sad to see die, left now only to geeks and reenactments. Josef sighed, remembering how hard it had been to give up wearing a cloak. _You know, I bet I still have one somewhere…_

Josef gave Rose one last smoldering glare and dashed up the stairs to his room. He dug back into the recesses of his closet that hadn't been touched in decades.

"Aha!"

* * *

"Josef?!" Mick called as he entered the living room. He pulled the sunglasses off and looked around the room. "Josef?"

Mick had been out on a case and he was in the area so he thought he'd drop by for a drink. "Josef?" Mick called again, eyeing the half empty glass of blood on the table. He picked it up and sniffed the edge. _O+_ Never a good sign with Josef. _God I hope he's not in one of his moods again. Last time it took a week to convince him…_

Mick's thoughts were cut off as he spotted a lone freshie by the pool. He thought he remembered Josef calling her Rose as he had thrust her onto his lap in one of Josef's many misguided attempts to get Mick back on tap. Mick slid the poolside door open. "Excuse me, miss, but have you seen Josef today?" he asked.

The girl nodded and pointed upstairs. Mick nodded his head in thanks and retreated to the shaded, air-conditioning of the house. He took one last look at the freshie and headed on up the stairs.

He heard rustling coming from Josef's room and he approached the door cautiously. The door was open so Mick peered inside, not prepared for the sight that met his eyes.

Josef was standing with his back to him, dressed head to toe in a full length…cloak! And much to Mick's amusement he wasn't just standing there. He was…twirling. Spinning from side to side to and watching as the cloak billowed. He raised his arms up and down bringing the cloak up with him.

Mick stood rooted to the spot. _Has Josef completely lost it? What in the world inspired him to don, much less prance around, in a cloak?_

Suddenly, Josef froze. He had the cloak raised up above his head, but it was still long enough to touch the floor, spreading out like the wings of a giant bird. Josef turned slowly, lowering the cape as he went. Mick leaned closer to the door, wondering what Josef would do next.

"Why don't you come in the room, Mick? You'll have a better view."

_Caught! Well, no point in trying to deny it…_ Mick pushed the door open the rest of the way and stepped into the room. "What are you doing, Josef?"

"Playing with my cloak." Josef grinned, almost childlike.

"I can see that. May I ask why?" Mick's voice was barely contained cynicism and he felt he was going to bust with laughter at any moment.

"Because cloaks are fun." Josef spun around as proof.

Mick broke down laughing. Josef frowned at him. Mick couldn't help himself, he had to use the bed to hold himself up. By the time Mick finished, Josef was scowling at him. "Wear one or get out," Josef ordered, pointing to the door.

"But…but I don't…have a…cloak," Mick gasped and started to laugh anew.

Josef whipped out another cloak from somewhere that Mick couldn't see. He immediately stopped laughing as Josef held the garment out to him. "Put it on or go home."

Mick looked at Josef like he'd lost his mind, but he took the cloak, defiantly. He was determined to show Josef how ridiculous he looked. As Mick pulled the cloak over his shoulders and fastened the clasp, a new realization set in. Cloaks…were…fun.

Mick looked down at his garment and then up at his reflection in the mirror. He looked kind of…nice. Mick twirled the edges out, testing the fabric. It moved with ease and Mick couldn't help but repeat Josef's action of raising his arms over his head to engulf his entire body.

Mick looked up at Josef, who was staring at him with pure amusement in his eyes. "Cool, isn't it?"

* * *

Beth pulled up to Josef's. The sun was beginning to set and she had been looking for Mick for the last few hours. She hoped his best friend would know where to find him. She saw Mick's car parked in the driveway and rolled her eyes, _Figures._

Beth made her way into the house and looked around. The boys weren't in the living room. "Mick? Josef?" Beth twirled around to see if they were in the kitchen. "Josef? Mick?" she called again.

A scantily clad woman walked in from the patio. "Try upstairs," she said, before disappearing down a hallway.

Beth furrowed her eyebrows, curious as to why the boys would be upstairs. She hesitantly climbed the stairs, not wanting to walk in on any private vampire business. That's when she heard their voices.

"It's so big, Josef."

Beth froze in place.

"I know. I get complimented for it all the time."

"You mean…outside?"

"Of course. Where's the fun in keeping it hidden. Pity, it hasn't been out in a while..."

Beth gulped. _What are they talking about?_

"Love it when you do that."

"I know, it is amazing."

"Maybe I could come with you next time?"

"Maybe. I don't know if you're ready for that..."

Beth rallied her courage and finished climbing the stairs. She peeked into the open bedroom door expecting…_Well, certainly not that!_

Mick and Josef were in cloaks…_Cloaks!_

Beth pushed the door open and stood there openmouthed. Mick and Josef simultaneously spun as if on cue, pulling their arms draped in their cloaks to cover their faces.

"You have got to be kidding me?!" Beth exasperated. "Vampires in cloaks, that is too cliché."

Mick lowered his arm, slightly ashamed of letting himself get carried away, but Josef kept the cloak up in front of his face. "I vant to suck vyou're blud," Josef said in a surprisingly creepy accent with pale blue eyes.

Beth shivered at the thought that that might actually be true, but she squared her shoulders and faced him, glaring at him. "Grow up."

Josef dropped the cloak, causing it to fall in front of him, concealing the rest of his form. "I'm 409 years old. If I haven't grown up already, I'm not going to."

Beth rolled her eyes. "You two have got to be the most ridiculous thing I have seen in years! What's come over you?"

"Cloaks are fun," Mick muttered.

Beth scoffed at him. She turned to leave the boys to their game of dress-up when Josef's sultry voice caught her ear.

"Want to try one?"

* * *

"Cloaks are fun," Beth murmured, twirling around to let it circle around her. "Where did you get these? They are so well made. I wouldn't expect a costume shop to do such fine quality."

"They're not costumes," Josef answered. "They're real. I bought them in London in the mid-eighteen hundreds."

Beth's eyes widened as she took in the well-preserved material. "Wow."

"Yeah," Mick agreed. "You should get him to show you his Elizabethan collection."

"Sorry, no can do. They're on loan to the British Museum."

Beth smiled. "How much of your life is part of a museum now?"

Josef grinned. "The world over? I could fill the Smithsonian…" Beth's mouth hung open. "I am history." Josef said with a dramatic flair of his cloak.

Beth giggled and Mick smiled. "That's not the best thing…"

Beth looked at him as he spread his arms wide and wrapped her in a tight hug, enclosing her in his cloak. "See, we're one person now."

Beth smiled and leaned up to kiss him. Mick kissed her back, grinning the whole time.

"Stop it you two," Josef protested. "This is my bedroom."

"So what?" Mick countered. "What would you do to us?"

"I'd…pounce on you!" Josef said, throwing the cape back and flying over the bed totally vamped out, only to land next to the couple his face perfectly human and the cloak closing in front of him, once again concealing his true form.

Beth screamed in spite of herself. Josef chuckled. "Well at least I'm still terrifying. I'll leave you two to whatever it is you kids do. Don't forget to put away the cloaks when you're finished with them and Mick…" Josef turned to look at Mick as he whipped the cloak from around his shoulders. "Don't destroy any of the furniture, most of it's older than you…"


End file.
